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Training with Peter Verachtert

My club is holding a seminar this weekend with IPO world championship helper Peter Verachtert. Peter is a great helper and it was nice to get a session in with him with Danni. The video is a crappy cell phone one, but it works. Peter had hardly any critique for us. The only things he mentioned were the way I sat her during the escape (because she had downed on her own) and mentioned he would do it a different way. He said she was to the side in her bark and hold but not to worry about it. After the two long bites he came and said I should end there because she has no problems. Her bark and her bite are good and she looks great.

When I left I thanked him one last time because I won’t be able to make it out the rest of the weekend. He said, “I like your dog very much. She shows great temperament and a great overall picture.” And whether or not he was trying to, that really spoke volumes to me. I have always focused on making my dog understand protection in and of itself rather than just a routine exercise in a sport. She takes it seriously. And even if she’s to the side in the blind, her barking and biting are really what stand out and the overall picture is what matters in the judge’s mind. So many people are so focused on the minute things so often that I think we forget to look at the dogs as a whole and their performance as a whole. And really, when you lose the big picture, you lose the picture.

Anyway, I sincerely want to thank my amazing helper for all of the awesome training foundation he has done and continues to do with my dog. Christopher Smith owns and trains Q’Judah! des Barriques IPO1 FH2 and I would not be where I am today without him, or the rest of my wonderful training friends.